Tag Archives: goal setting

I can’t remember who it was that taught me to do this, but it is another exercise that may be the missing step on your way to achieving your goals. Yet when it is explained, it makes so much sense (at least to me).Here are a few ‘options’ of resource lists that may help you reach your goals:

Skills/Knowledge: what do you already know… or know how to do that will help you achieve your goal?

People: who do you already know that you can use when you need help, support, information

Now that you’re thinking about what a resource list might be – here is the exercise:

Write your goal at the top of the page.

Without thinking too much – write down all the things you already KNOW that will help you get to your goal .
(for the extroverts out there – talk about this over lunch instead of staring at a blank page)

Now write down all the places you would go if what you know isn’t enough.

Plus all the people you would talk with to learn more.

Who are the people who will be supportive?

How about the people who will challenge you to be your best?

What else would help to have notes about later when you’re facing obstacles on your way to achieving your goal?

There you go – now you’ve created your own arsenal of resources to help you achieve your goal! All that you need to do now is take action… yes I mean right now, go do something.

Like this:

I think the number one reason people fail in goal achievement is that it is HARD. Yup, if you look at when people give up it tends to be when:

Something unexpected stands in the way of forward movement

They look at where they are vs. where they want to be AND it appears farther away than when they started

It’s more effort than they ever imagined

Instead of waiting until it gets to that point – here is a crazy idea. Think about what obstacles you are going to face WHEN YOU SET THE GOAL.

I know it sounds weird, but think about it this way for just a moment……

while you’re excited about the ideajazzed up about what you’ll get when you achieve itenthusiastic about the process of getting there

…… what if you used that positive energy and state of mind to creatively come up with ways around the obstacles you are going to face (because I don’t care who you are or what your goal is – you’re going to be facing obstacles along the way)?

As individuals we can probably identify off the top of our heads the top three things that we face when working toward a goal (it doesn’t matter what the goal is… I bet you can come up with a few obstacles right this second).

The worst time to try and use the creative problem solving part of our brains is once we’re frustrated. Especially if you’re someone who has banged their head against the wall a few hundred times before you’re willing to admit you’re stuck (you KNOW who you are!).

The best time to be really creative is when we’re excited! So work on those obstacles at the beginning, when the goal is new & sparkly. Not when the shine has worn off.

When we know where we started.
We know our goal.
Yet… from where we are today it feels like we’ve moved AWAY vs. toward where we want to go.

YECH – I hate that feeling, but instead of being stuck inside a labyrinth (no not the 1986 movie created by Jim Henson, starring David Bowie) of your own creation – take a deep breath and think it through by asking yourself:

What do I know now that I didn’t know when I started on this journey?

If I abandon my path – what is a different way to achieve my goal?

When I look at where I am RIGHT NOW, what is the FIRST small step I need to take to get forward momentum toward my goal?

Now take that step!

Which leads us to – what do we do when it’s HARD? I mean really, really, really, really hard.

When the puzzle pieces aren’t fitting together and it feels like a better idea to put it back in the box (or maybe burn it) most of us consider it – at least for a fleeting moment (ok I’ll admit it I did burn a puzzle once that really drove me crazy…. not my proudest moment but at the time it sure was fun watching it go up in flames).

Goals are like that as well, there is momentary joy in giving up the hardship and extraordinary effort it takes to move forward. That momentary joy is not long lasting, most of the time we replace it with disappointment in ourselves which is no fun at all.

The instant gratification of giving up is the reason I have accountability partners and a support system for myself to make sure I don’t take the easy way out. Let’s face it a goal worth achieving isn’t going to be a snap to accomplish; rather it will take loads of effort (many times a combination of emotional, mental, and physical effort).

Don’t wait until you’re in overwhelm to look for support – create this at the beginning as well. Make sure that you’ve built in people who will cheer you on, help you keep moving, and believe in your ability to get to the end result you are working for.

Like this:

Don’t worry this isn’t a rehashing of SMART Goals – for goodness sake if you want more about that do a Google search (I got “About 6,130,000 results” in 0.24 seconds). I’m going to make an assumption that if you’re reading this you know how to set a goal; what you want to know is how to achieve it!

Here are my 3 simple steps to achieving your goals.

Figure out what the FIRST small step you need to take to get momentum is

Do it

Repeat steps 1 and 2: over & over & over again…. until you reach your goal

Remember though “just because it’s simple doesn’t make it easy” ~ Lynn Hidy (don’t you hate when people quote themselves).

Now for all the stuff I think is more important to think about:

What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?

That is on a piece of steal that sits on my desk, right below my monitor. Why? I need the reminder to be fearless when I start to move forward toward my goals. It is so easy to stop MYSELF by:

playing the “what if” game

expend energy on worry (the most useless activity in the universe – my opinion only of course)

prefer to do nothing than do the wrong thing (ok so for me that isn’t the issue, but it is for some of my clients)

Action Item #1 = figure out what your stumbling blocks are and work on overcoming them

Do one new thing each day; by the end of a year you’ll be a true innovator!

That is a quote by Nancy A Shenker of TheOnSwitch.com that is on the WomensAdvantage.biz calendar for January 1st. I can’t think of a better quote to start off the year. For inside sales that may not be as difficult as you think!

I could probably get through the whole year with just those three over and over again…

Action Item #2 = do something new every single day

To grow fast, fail fast. Failure is an opportunity to get things right the next time.

That quote is from January 2nd of the same calendar, from Rigdha Acharya of GetYourSuccessNow.com. I know it seems like the reverse of my ‘What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?’ mantra but it is actually completely unrelated to me.

What it makes me think about are all the lessons that can be learned by NOT winning deals:

What is really important to the prospect organization

Questions I didn’t think to ask that I need to incorporate moving forward

Was I chasing business that wasn’t in my core competencies

Action Item #3 = make sure that every failure is evaluated for the lesson

Now you have BOTH my simple 3 step process along with 3 more complicated action items to make it work for you. That way when you finish out the year you can look back at your goals – see achievement – celebrate your success!

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